Fire crews keep a watch on hotspots along Highway 39 near the Mountain Cove community as the Colby Fire burns in Azusa on Friday morning, Jan. 17, 2014. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda/ San Gabriel Valley Tribune)

As the sun threw its first rays over Southern California this morning, firefighters emerged from tents pitched in a field near the Santa Fe Dam and begin preparing for a second day of battle against the Colby Fire.

After breakfast at base camp, the men and women packed ice chests and brown bag lunches before heading up to the front lines of a wildfire that burned 1,700 acres of the San Gabriel Mountains, damaging homes and causing three minor injuries.

The blaze erupted around 6 a.m. Thursday when three campers stoked a fire with paper, according to police. Strong winds that prompted a red flag warning throughout the region this week pushed the burning paper into nearby brush, igniting the wildfire, police said.

The three men were booked on suspicion of unlawfully causing a fire of a structure or forest land, a felony, Glendora police Lt. Rob Lamborghini said. Their bail was raised to $500,000 each after initially being set at $20,000 per person.

The wind, which caused the fire to quickly spread south toward homes on Thursday, will likely affect Friday’s battle plans, according to Los Angeles County Fire Department Capt. Steve Khodavandi.

“We’ll see what type of wind we get in the morning, if any,” Khodavandi said. “We hope none.”

Preventing the west end of the fire from jumping the San Gabriel Canyon is critical, he added, because homes are located on the other side of the canyon.

On Thursday, the fire destroyed five homes, damaged five others and burnt one barn, six garages and five outer buildings, like sheds. Included in the destroyed structures were two guest houses and a six-car garage at a historical landmark — the Kregelo Estate, one of Glendora’s two Singer mansions.

The nighttime weather of rising humidity and dying winds made it easier for the hundreds of fire personnel working overnight to strengthen control lines and extinguish a flare up. Before nightfall Thursday, fire officials announced 30-percent of the fire was contained. Friday morning officials said overnight crews strengthened the containment lines, which remain at 30-percent, and burned an area behind Azusa Water and Power to better protect the structure, according to Nathan Judy U.S. National Forest spokesman.

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During the night, the fire quit advancing south toward homes and, if anything, was slowly moving north due to the topography of the mountain, Khodavandi said, while sitting inside the LA County Fire Department’s incident command center truck in the parking lot of Irwindale’s Santa Fe Dam.

Outside the red truck, subcontractors worked under lampposts and portable spotlights to set up amenities for the firefighters. Bathrooms were brought on site, a kitchen area was erected and others set up 10 trailers that officials will use Thursday to plan and orchestrate their attack.

“They just bring us in from different parts of everywhere, and we all have our own jobs to do,” said Ray Diaz of Western Fire Support Systems.

While Diaz installed steps to the elevated doors of the trailers, about 10 miles away Danielle Fonseca was playing a Scrabble-like game called Bananas with members of the American Red Cross.

Fonseca’s home is one of about 800 Azusa dwellings under evacuation orders, which will be reassessed this morning according to Sgt. Xavier Torres of the Azusa Police Department.

Both Torres and a Glendora police official said they have received zero reports of looting or other crime in neighborhoods near the fire.

The Red Cross hosted the only overnight evacuation site at Glendora High School for residents displaced by the fire.

Volunteer shelter supervisor Roy Vargas said around midnight that nine people were staying at the high school, which will be open for class today.

The Red Cross provided snacks and cots for the evacuees and will serve breakfast in the morning, Vargas said, adding, “We try to make it as comfortable as possible.”

Fonseca ended up in the company of Vargas after leaving her Azusa home around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday to pick up her two children from school.

“All the roads to get up to my house are closed, so here we are,” she said.

She thanked the Red Cross for their amenities, but said, “It’s a lot more comfortable at home.”